Adjustable footrest



1943. F. G. ICASSENS ET AL 2,337,229.

Filed Aug. 3, 1940 h z'llz'am (D704 BY MU,MATT0RNEY F. G. CASSENS ETALDec. 21, 1943.'

ADJUSTABLE FOOT REST 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 3, 1940 ll ll FredaC'asserzs h/z'ilz'am lfRaa MATTORNEY lmll lll l HIIIIH Ill r .i

Patented Dec. 21, 1943 ADJUSTABLE FOOTREST Fred G. Cassens, Jennings,and William J. Roa, University City, Mo., assignors to American Car andFoundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New JerseyApplication August 3, 1940, Serial No. 350,412

3 Claims. (01. 155-172) This invention relates to foot rests in generaland in particular to foot rests for use on railway car seats of therevolving type.

In revolving seats as previously built attempts have been made to attachthe foot rest to the revolving seat portion in order to get the footrest at the proper position for comfort but such a placement of the footrest required complicated mechanism, permitting folding of the restautomatically as the seat revolved. It is an object, therefore, of thepresent invention to provide a. foot rest for revolving seats, whichfoot rest is of extremely simple construction and carried by the seatbase or support structure.

Another object of the invention is the provision of individual footrests for dual type revolving seats and which foot rests areindependently adjusted.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a simplifiedtype of foot rest which may be moved to various positions and heldlocked in such positions by a bayonet type catch.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to personsskilled in the art from a study of the following description andaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of adjoining seats with theimproved foot rest applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the foot rests applied to the seat base frame02" pedestal structure;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the pedestal or seat frame assembly with partsof the foot rest mechanism broken away to better disclose theconstruction;

Fig. 4 is a partial sectional view of the improved latch;

Fig. 5 is a detail view of one end of the latch disclosing the camconstruction;

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view showing the manner in which the footrest is mounted in the pivoted side arms;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view showing the relation of parts with thelatch in released position;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. '7, and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the arm carried cam member.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the seatis formed with side pieces A which are pivoted to back B and betweenwhich is mounted the seat cushion C. This entire seat is mounted on arigid frame D (Fig. 2) and is revolvably supported upon a base F. Thebase thetic resilient material.

for supporting the seat consists of a metal framework 2 supported at itsouter end on seat pedestal 4 and at its inner end by means of angle clip6 upon some element of the car or vehicle structure. The base structureside members have connected thereto a plurality of brackets 8 locatedadjacent the inner, outer and intermediate portions of the base and eachof these brackets is formed with an opening for reception of a pivotbolt or other means l0. Each of the brackets extends outwardly beyondthe pivot connection and is flared to receive a plurality of openings l2by means of which the angular position of the foot rest may becontrolled. There are two foot rests connected to the seat base oneither side thereof but since they are identical in construction, thedescription of one will suffice for all of the foot rests. Each footrest consists of a pair of side arms i4 pivoted to the brackets by pivotbolts or other means in previously referred to and carrying at theirouter ends foot rest it. The foot rest proper in the present instanceisof tubular form and comprises an inner member I8 carrying an outerresilient member 20 formed of rubber or other natural or syn- The innermember is internally threaded at the ends to receive a plug 22 by meansof which the foot rest proper may be rotatably mounted in the side arms.

In order to control the position of the side arms and hence of the footrest proper, a bayonet type latch is provided and this consists of apair of rods 3i) having tapered noses 32 and having secured to the rodportion adjacent the nose, as by welding, a V-shaped cam 34. Each camhas attached thereto, or formed as integral parts thereof, outstandingears 38 located in alignment with the apex of the V-shaped cam surfaces.One of the rods has welded thereto as at 33 a tube iii, the other end ofwhich is adapted to sliclably engage the inner end of the other latchrod. The inner ends of the two latch rods are located within the tubeand spaced apart by means of a compression spring 42 constantly urgingthe latch rods apart. The latch rods are connected together for slidingmovement by means of a bolt 44 engaged in one of the latch rods andextending through a slot 48 formed in the tubular member 40. Thus itwill be seen that the latch rods are joined together to form an assemblywhich must rotate in unison yet in which the latch rods may move towardor away from each other; in other words, along the axis of the assembly.Rotation of the entire assembly may be accomplished by applying pressureto a projection 50 welded or otherwise secured to one of the latch rodsin such a position as to be readily accessible to the operator. In orderto cause retraction of the latch rods, a cam member 52 is welded orotherwise secured to the inner surfaces of the foot rest side arms. Eachof these cam members is formed with a central opening 54 located inalignment with a similar opening in the side arms and at such a positionas to register with the holes i2 in the base brackets. The cam member isalso formed with V-shaped cam surfaces 53 and with spaced outstandinglugs 58 adapted to contact earstdon thelatchrods and limit the rotationthereof. It will be seen that when the cam surfaces of the iatch'rodsand of the side arms are engaged with the apices in engagement, the noseportion of the latch rods will be in engagement with the aligned hole itin the base bracket. Pressure applied to member 59 will cause a rotationof the entire latch assembly causing the inclined surfaces of thecammembers on the latch rods and side arms to force the latch rods inwardlycompressing the spring and removing the latch rods from engagement withthe holes l2in the base brackets. Excessive rotation of the latch'rodsis prevented by engagement of ears 3% and lugs 58; It will be seen thatthe latch rod may be rotated in either direction from its normalposition, thus by applying pressure to the releasing member 5!] in theproper direction, the foot rest will be moved in the desired directionby the same force that causes a retraction of the latches; It will beapparent also that pressure may be applied by one toe of the operatorresting on operating member 56, while pressure may be applied by theother toe of the operator acting upon the foot rest proper toeitherraise or lower the same to a new position;

While the improved'foot rest has been described more or less in detail,it will be obvious to persons skilled in the art that variousmodificationsand rearrangements of parts may be made and'all suchmodifications and rearrangements ofparts are contemplated'as will fallwithin the scope of the appended claims defining means extending betweensaid side arms and rotatable relative thereto and including a tubularportion and locking pins non-rotatably carried by said tubular portionwith at least one of said locking pins being mounted within the tubularportion and slidable longitudinally thereof, said locking pins extendingbeyond said tubular portion and through said side arms into lockingengagement with said brackets to control the positions of said side armsand foot rest.

2. An adjustable foot rest assembly carried by a seat base frame andcomprising, brackets secured to the base frame and extending laterallythereof, side arms pivotally mounted on said brackets inwardly of theouter ends thereof, a foot rest. carried by the side arms adjacent theends remote from the pivotal mount, locking means extending between saidside arms and rotatable relative thereto and including a tubular portionand locking pins non-rotatably carried by said tubular portion with atleast one of said locking pins being mounted within the tubular portionand slidable longitudinally thereof, said locking pins extending beyondsaid tubular portions and through said side arms into locking engagementwith said brackets to control the positions of said side arms and footrest, and cam means secured to said side arms and locking pins andoperable upon rotation of said tubular portion to cause retraction ofsaid pins out of locking engagement with said brackets.

3. An adjustable foot rest assembly carried by a seat base frame andcomprising, brackets secured to the base frame and extending laterallythereof, side arms pivotally mounted on said brackets inwardly of theouter ends thereof, a foot rest carried by the side arms adjacent theends remote from the pivotal mount, means secured to the side armsintermediate the pivotal mount thereof and the foot rest, locking meansextending between said side arms and wholly carried thereby, saidlocking means comprising in part a pair of locking pins slidablelaterally with respect to said first named means and side arms andnormally extending inte locking engagement with said bracketsv tocontrol the pivotal movement of the side arms and foot rest, saidlocking pins engaging said first named means to cause lateral slidingmovement of the locking pins relative to saidside arms and out ofengagement with said brackets upon rotation of said locking means.

FRED G. CASSENS. WILLIAM J. BOA;

